SPHINX ARL 24

Ship Name and Designation History

This section lists the names and designations that the ship had during its lifetime. The list is in chronological order.

Achelous Class Landing Craft Repair Ship Authorized as Tank Landing Ship LST-963 Redesignated Landing Craft Repair Ship (ARL) September 11 1944 Keel Laid October 20 1944 - Launched November 18 1944 USS SPHINX ARL-24 Commissioned May 10 1945 - Decommissioned May 26 1947 Recommissioned November 3 1950 - Decommissioned January 31 1956 Recommissioned October 31 1967 - Decommissioned September 30 1971 Struck from Naval Register April 16 1977 - Re-acquired by U.S. Navy 1985 Recommissioned July 26 1985 - Decommissioned June 16 1989 Struck from Naval Register June 19 1989 Custody transferred December 2 2002 to Dunkirk Historical Lighthouse and Veterans Park Museum, Dunkirk, N.Y. Custody transferred back to MARAD April 2007 due to lack of funds Sold August 24 2007 for scrap, contract voided Scrapping contract re-awarded November 30 2007 Towed to Chesapeake, VA December 1 2007 for scrapping

Naval Covers

This section lists active links to the pages displaying covers associated with the ship. There should be a separate set of pages for each incarnation of the ship (ie, for each entry in the "Ship Name and Designation History" section). Covers should be presented in chronological order (or as best as can be determined).

Since a ship may have many covers, they may be split among many pages so it doesn't take forever for the pages to load. Each page link should be accompanied by a date range for covers on that page.

1. USS Sphinx ARL-24 Covers Page 1      (1947-89)

 

Postmarks

This section lists examples of the postmarks used by the ship. There should be a separate set of postmarks for each incarnation of the ship (ie, for each entry in the "Ship Name and Designation History" section). Within each set, the postmarks should be listed in order of their classification type. If more than one postmark has the same classification, then they should be further sorted by date of earliest known usage.

A postmark should not be included unless accompanied by a close-up image and/or an image of a cover showing that postmark. Date ranges MUST be based ONLY ON COVERS IN THE MUSEUM and are expected to change as more covers are added.
 
>>> If you have a better example for any of the postmarks, please feel free to replace the existing example.

 

Postmark Type --- Killer Bar Text	Postmark Date	Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image	Thumbnail Link To Cover Image

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Post office established June 9 1945 - Disestablished April 21 1947

 

Locy Type 2(n)

1947-02-22

George Washington's Birthday

 

Locy Type 2# (Br. #15926)

1945-11-06

Sailors mail

 

Locy Type 9ef(nu)

1947-02-22

George Washington's Birthday

 

Locy Type LDPS 2(n) Apr 22, 1947

1947-04-22

Last Day of Postal Service, cachet by Walter G. Crosby

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Post office reestablished October 6 1952 - Disestablished October 5 1955

 

Locy Type 2r

1955-07-06

Cacheted

 

Locy Type 9efu

1955-07-06

Cacheted

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Post office reestablished 1967 - Disestablished September 30 1971

 

Locy Type 2(n+) (USS)

1969-08-25

Collectors request

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Post office reestablished July 26 1985 - Disestablished 1989

 

Locy Type 2-1(n+)

1987-02-05

Note:

 

Locy Type 9-1(n+u)

1987-02-05

Note:

 

Other Information

SPHINX earned one battle star for the Korean War
* UN Summer-Fall Offensive
April 26-28 1952

Earned eight campaigns stars for Vietnam War service
* Vietnamese Counteroffensive, Phase IV
June 8-30 1968
* Vietnamese Counteroffensive, Phase V
July 1 to November 1 1968
* Vietnamese Counteroffensive, Phase VI
November 2 1968 to February 22 1969
* Tet 69/Counteroffensive
February 23 to June 8 1969
* Vietnam Summer-Fall 1969
June 9-20 1969
August 23 to October 31 1969
* Vietnam Winter-Spring 1970
November 1 1969 to April 30 1970
* Sanctuary Counteroffensive
May 1 to June 30 1970
* Vietnamese Counteroffensive, Phase VII
July 1 to December 12 1970
March 11 to June 30 1971

USS SPHINX earned the following awards during her Naval career - Combat Action Ribbon w/ 1 silver star, the Presidential Unit Citation Ribbon w/ 1 star, the Navy Unit Commendation Ribbon w/ 3 stars, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp), the National Defense Service Medal w/ 1 star, the Korean Service Medal w/ 1 Campaign star, the Vietnam Service Medal w/ 8 Campaign stars, the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation Ribbon (8 awards), the Republic of Vietnam Civil Actions Unit Citation Ribbon, the United Nations Service Medal, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.

NAMESAKE - A mythical monster formed by joining the body of a lion and the head of a human. In ancient Egypt, the Sphinx possessed the head of a man, usually a pharoah. The most famous Egyptian sphinx is a statue hewn out of limestone some 60 feet high and 180 feet long, and located at Gizeh. In Greek mythology, the sphinx combined the head and bust of a woman, the wings of a bird, and the tail of a serpent. The greatest sphinx of Greece was said to have terrorized the people of Thebes by devouring all who could not answer her riddle.

 

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